History of Heironeous/Chapter 7
And Heironeous and the sons of Gither entered in unto the cave that was in the side of the pass in the mountains known as Guardian, from which there issued a most horrible stench. #And the day in which they entered the cave was the tenth day of the fifth month of the second year since Heironeous had entered the city of Elshamroth. #And for many hours Heironeous and the sons of Gither explored the cave, seeking the beast which laired therein, that they might preserve the lives of their comrades from its foul hungers. #And when they had explored the cave unto its utmost extremity, Alphus, son of Gither, murmured against Heironeous, saying, Lo, we have explored this cave, and behold, we have found not dragon, nor demon, nor any creature which we might slay and gain glory thereby. #And Heironeous spake unto Alphus saying, We have found no such creature, it is true, but my intention was never that we might slay and gain glory, neither have I ever slain any creature for mine own sake, but for the defence of the weak and the innocent have I slain only the evil, and spared the innocent alive. Now behold, repent of thy pride and thy glory-seeking, for behold, if thou doeth it not, thou shalt surely die before thou shalt ever again see the sun. #And Alphus was sore afraid, and knelt down before Heironeous, and bowed his head, and said unto Heironeous, #Forgive my pride and my seeking after glory, for I was filled with youth, yea, and with that pride that is the preserve of youth, and I should have left it behind when I attained the age of adulthood, and I did not. #Heironeous spake unto him, saying, I forgive thee thy pride, and thy sins, if thou wilt follow after me, and murmur not against thy leader, #For the army that is divided against itself cannot stand, but shall surely fall, for its unity is its strength, and its discipline as its bulwalks against evil. #And Alphus swore again in that day his oath unto Heironeous, that he would obey Heironeous, and follow his word, and sacrifice all that he had in the defence of the defenceless and the destruction of evil. #And when he had finished swearing his oath, behold, the inhabitant of the cave emerged from the shadows, and it was a huge and loathsome spider, fat with the blood of uncountable victims, and glowing with arcane power. #And the spider spake unto them, saying, Wherefore hast thou entered into my lair, and why hast thou come into these mountains? For behold, none shall enter these mountains and live, and thou and thine army shalt surely perish. #And Heironeous spake unto the spider, saying, What art thou? And how hast thou the ability to speak unto me in the tongue of the elves? For the spider spoke in that tongue. #And the spider spake, saying, I am Lolth, who was cast out by Corellon Larethian for rebellion, for I would not submit to him as he would, and I have led away those who would follow me, and who would not follow Corellon. These lands are mine, given unto me by the right of conquest, and I will not give them up. #However, I see that thou art a mighty man, yea, thou, and all those who follow after thee. Therefore, I give unto thee a choice, for if thou wilt take these thy men, and the army which follows after thee, and leave my mountains and return unto the land from whence ye came, I shall spare thy lives, yea, and shall permit thee to depart, providing thou shalt promise never to return. #For in the day that thou returneth unto my mountains I shall destroy thee, yea, thee and all those that follow after thee shall I destroy, and I shall feed them to my minions, and they shall be food for the spiders that follow after me. #And the words of Heironeous were fulfilled, which he spake unto Alphus, for Alphus had repented of his pride, else he would surely have attacked the spider, and would have perished thereby; but because he had repented, he did not attack foolishly, and was spared. Category:History of Heironeous